Life after Loss
by noruas bombadil
Summary: Jaune is dead and a new threat is rising to face the people of Remnant. Yang is in shambles but it seems that not all hope and life is lost from team RWBY.
1. Chapter 1

Yang looked at her scroll and saw that it was two in the morning. To her left, James sat on a new stool. He never got the two hundred dollars he paid Slick for the table that he didn't break but Slick also hadn't brought him a check yet.

Yang had never heard of anyone having a tab at a diner but stranger things have happened. "We need to get back or my sister will send out a search party," she said.

James nodded in agreement. He was still a little hungover from earlier so when he stood up he almost fell over. It was funny compared to the way he had kicked ass a few hours ago, but that was adrenaline and now he was tired and in mourning.

Come to think of it so was Yang. she hadn't gotten any sleep after she brought James to his new room and that was around seven pm. Then she got the news about Jaune and ran off. It shocked her to realize that she had been sitting at the diner for the past seven and a half hours but she didn't care right now.

Noticing that James was about to fall over Yang quickly slipped her shoulder under his and balanced his weight. One of the perks to having her aura unlocked and active was that she was actually stronger than James.

Getting to the docks was easy finding a bullhead that was leaving for Beacon was mostly luck. But luck seemed to smile on them now since there was one being flown by a pair of Rangers. Yang had no idea what they were doing here. When she got on board she saw a casket with a flag draped over it. The flag had a pair of yellow crescent moons and a green cursive _T_ on it.

Yang had no clue what the _T_ was for but she knew that the Crescents where the Arc Family symbol. She froze mid-stride when she realized that Jaune's body was in that casket. Most likely being brought to Jorge. She stared at it in an odd combination of remorse and hatred.

She wanted to have just one more chance to tell him, she would only need one more chance. She stepped forward, she needed to see him one last time. She gently pulled the flag down in order to find the latch that would open the casket.

"HEY,' one of the rangers inside the bullhead barked from behind his mask. Yang turned just in time to see the sole of his boot slam into her side sending her sliding several feet away.

She looked back to see James heading towards the ranger. Before anyone had the chance to die the second ranger yelled out. " everyone stop!"

There was a moment of pause as he stepped between the James and the first ranger. "What is going on here?" he asked James.

"This asshole just kicked my friend," James answered. His usual voice replaced by an unsettling growl.

"Ranger 78 is this true?" he asked.

Ranger 78 seemed to still be mad at Yang but he looked at the other ranger and answered. " yes sir,"

"Why?" the ranger in command asked.

"She was trying to get into O8's casket," he said.

"Please," Yang said having gotten back to her feet, " he was my…" she paused for a second before she finished. " he was my friend,"

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Yang Xiao Long. Why?"

The ranger pressed a few buttons on his gauntlet before saying. "Sir, this is Ranger 32, I have a woman trying to get into Ranger O8's casket she says her name is Yang Xiao Long."

There was a wait while the person he called spoke. When they were done he turned to Yang and said. " I can give you three minutes with the body but only if you're alone."

Yang looked to James who was already on his way out.

With the door closed, Ranger 32 removed the flag and folded it carefully. Once he was done he handed it to Ranger 78 and used his gauntlet to unlock the handle and lockless casket.

There was a hiss as the airtight seal broke. The lid lifted an inch and Yang slid her right hand under the upper part. The lid was heavy and cold but Yang managed to raise it without much trouble.

Jaune looked like he was at peace. Yang felt her tears running down her face and was careful not to let them drip onto Jaune. She wanted to reach out and touch him but she stopped herself. It seemed wrong somehow. She wasn't sure but there just wasn't something right.

She knew that she needed to let the casket be resealed in order to preserve the body so she stood up and nodded at Ranger 32.

He closed and re-locked the casket and used a nearby button to open the door. Yang and James both walked to the cockpit.

The flight back was a silent one Yang was still in a state of semi shock and James saw no need to speak.

The rangers took the body away and Yang and James headed to the dojo. Yang had forgotten that she wanted James to sleep in Jaune's old room and James was too tired to care. When they reached mat James suddenly tightened his grip around Yang's shoulder.

Yang reacted by stepping back and snaking her arm out. She wasn't sure what he was doing but she didn't want to get thrown. Then as if by instinct Yang reached down and grabbed for his leg.

James shot out a sprawl and hooked his left arm into Yang's armpit.

By now they both knew what was happening. They were trying to distract themselves and right now the best way for that to happen is for them to fight. They fell into a flow with Yang leveraging her speed advantage and James used his strength to counter.

They were going from position to position moving smoothly. That is they were going smoothly until Yang made the mistake of pulling guard.

She would have normally been in the right to pull guard but James had a thing about someone pulling guard on him.

When Yang saw a mischevious smile spread across his face she briefly considered changing her position in order to avoid being in guard. She wasn't brief enough however since before she could decide James grabbed her by the inside of her knees and forced his way into her guard.

This surprised Yang and concerned her as well since nobody had ever fought their way into her guard. They normally try and pass it not dive inside.

She was about to go for a triangle choke when instead of posturing up and fighting with Yang's legs James wrapped his arms around her in and over-under arm position with his right arm going over her left shoulder and his left arm going under her shoulder to gable grip with his right hand.

Then he did nothing, or so Yang thought. She soon realized what he was doing. He was pulling with his arms and keeping his knees wide and low. Yang tried to reverse into full mount but instead found that James was practically immovable. She tried and tried every sweep she knew but nothing worked.

She was beaten she knew what came next she would stay here and James would slowly pull his arms tighter and squeeze the life out of her or she would try and escape and he would take her back. James knew it to the fight was over so he laughed and postured up presumably to stand up and go to bed when Yang attacked and sweep him onto his back rolling into full mount.

She pinned her hands to mat knowing that if he wanted to escape he could. What happened next while it made sense in hindsight was still a little confusing in the moment. Something about the way that James was looking at her right not mixed with the fact that both of them were desperately trying to think about anything but Jaune and James' family. Caused her to lean down and gently and slowly kiss James' neck.

They had already been working through their pain but now things had changed. Yang knew that rolling around on the ground with someone was a very intimate thing but she wasn't really sure why she was gone from pinning James to the ground and look at him to PINNING James to the ground and kissing him.

She trailed her lips up his neck and was slightly stymied by his beard. Yang just about pulled away thinking that she may have crossed a line when James' right hand grabbed her left hip his left grabbed the back of her head. He shoved her hips back and recovered half guard before rolling her to her left with his left hand.

Now it was his turn to kiss her and she wasn't really sure what happened next.

The following minutes were and awkward shamble of teenagers that didn't actually know what they were doing. Just about the time that Yang had James were getting to their pants, there was a loud cough from the doorway.

They both looked to see professor Port standing in the doorway looking at them. He didn't need to say anything to make the mood awkward. All he had to do was stare, and stare he did.

Under his witheringly blank gaze, the two teens quickly shuffled a few feet apart and stared back not certain what else to do. Confident he had killed the Port smiled and left the room. James went to stand up only to have his legs give way.

He was exhausted, he hadn't slept the night before and he had just spent a good long while fighting with Yang and then a little longer making out with her.

Bringing that back to his mind James looked back to Yang and said. " that just happened,"

Yang nodded still a little out of breath. "Yeah it did, what was that?" she asked.

It was a good question, James had never thought of Yang as anything other than a student and a friend. At least not until a few minutes ago. " I think that we were both looking for a distraction. And well, we got distracted."

Yang agreed with his assessment. Their own need to not think about… well, the things that were bothering them and the fact that they were a couple of teenagers who were rolling around on the ground probably help to blur the line between grappling and cuddling.

Yang tried to stand up and also fell back down. Not expecting her legs to hurt as much as they did.

" I know it's shocking what you ignore when you are rolling," James said enjoying watching her try and get back to her feet." what do you need?" he asked.

" I need to get to my room," she said.

James laughed "can you even walk?"

She tried to get back up but was barely able to do so. Walking back to her dorm wouldn't be an option. She didn't even have to turn to know that James was giving her a smug look. "I need my Pajamas. She said in a defeated voice. She wasn't getting to her room so she was getting ready to sleep on the mat when she saw James dragging out the couch.

She was going to thank him when he stated for the door. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"To get your Pajamas, where are they?" he answered.

"Top left door," Yang said. After James had left Yang sat down on the couch. She looked at her scroll and saw that she had missed several texts from her team. They would be worried but James would explain everything.

She remembered to turn on the ringer on her scroll before watching one of Ren's older fights. She followed the pageantry that came along with the fight wanting to kill time until James got back. The actual fight was short. Ren and his opponent touched gloves, and then when his opponent went to throw a roundhouse to the body Ren fired off the fastest left straight Yang had ever seen and knocked the man out cold.

Of his other six fights, four of them ended in a similar way. Ren's opponent would attempt an attack of some sort and Ren would instantly counter with blinding speed. Leaving his victim twitching on the canvas.

She was about to watch another one of James' fights when she got a text that made her blood run cold and her adrenaline spike.

Her legs protested her moving but she ignored them as she ran from the room. The text was from Weiss and simply ready. [_Blake has been attacked she is in the infirmary_]

When she arrived she began asking where Blake was. Nobody seemed ot know or want to tell which only made her panic more. She was running through the halls checking every room. If Weiss had been so abrupt then it must have been bad.

After several minutes of searching Yang found them and in her mad dash to reach Blake she accidentally sent Weiss Ruby flying.

When she reached she threw her arms around her and started crying into the hospital gown.

She was shaking and her head hurt. She was just so scared. She had lost Jaune and less than a day later Blake was in the infirmary. Yang felt Blake set a hand on her shoulder. When Ruby tried to get Yang to lean back from Blake's midsection Yang swung her arm out at her sister almost catching her on the side of her neck.

Ruby was stunned by what had happened. Yang would never try and hurt her. She was about so say something when Weiss stopped her.

" She's having a panic attack," she whispered. "Let me handle this"

"Yang, I need to you look at me,' Weiss said.

Yang slowly raised her head to match the heiress's eye line.

"You're having a panic attack breathe with me okay," Weiss took a deep breath and waited for Yang to do the same.

When she did Weiss waited three more seconds and breathed out. She repeated this process for about a minute before she asked. "Okay Yang, what happened. You are way too out of sorts right now."

Yang realized that her team hadn't been told about Jaune yet. She wanted to tell them but when she tried she just started to cry.

"Yang, what's wrong?" Ruby asked gentely wrapping her arms around her sister.

"It's Jaune," they heard from a voice in the doorway. They all turned to see Isabao arc standing there with tears in her eyes. "Jaune's dead,"


	2. Chapter 2

"What?" Ruby said her shock clear. It broke Yang's heart to see her little sister's face. Ruby saw Jaune as some kind of immortal superhero. He had gotten hurt protecting her when they first meet and then a few weeks later he stayed behind in order to save his team.

A few months later and he literally came back from the dead. In Ruby's eyes, he couldn't be killed.

Knowing that the next step for her baby sister was a complete emotional breakdown Yang managed to let go of Blake and was on her way to her sister when said sister suddenly appeared clinging to Isabao Arc's side.

It made Yang want to smile to see that after all these years Ruby finally had a mother. She would be lying if she didn't also feel a little empty at the fact that her sister had chosen Isabao over her.

When Yang reached the two of them she saw that Ruby wasn't crying. Instead, she was hugging Isabao with a deep and contemplative expression.

"Ruby, what are you thinking about sweetie?" Isabao asked.

"He's not dead," she said, she said it with such determination that it broke Yang's heart. She was in denial, and at some point, she was going to have to accept that Jaune wasn't coming back this time.

Yang reached down and ran a hand through Ruby's hair. "He's dead Rubes, I saw his body, I watched him die." she felt her tears dripping down her face but she decided not to wipe them away. Getting Ruby to move on was more important.

"You may have watched him die but that makes the second time you've watched him die and the fourth time you've thought he was dead. I honestly don't think anything can kill him. Not even death." she said.

Yang was about to keep trying to get through to her but she was cut off by Weiss growling. "You knew?"

Yang turned to see a look of betrayal and anger coming from Blake. "You knew and you didn't tell us?" the cat Faunus asked. She was still trying to figure out why Yang wouldn't have told them immediately.

Jaune had saved Weiss' life on their first mission, he may have turned his back on the team but she hadn't forgotten what he did. Jaune had also offered Blake a home after Adam framed her for the attempt on Weiss' life. They both had a debt to him even if Weiss didn't like it.

Feeling to walls closing in around her and wanting to keep a better lid on her temper Yang gently pushed past Isabao and left the room.

She was a few rooms down the hall when her legs remembered how tired they were. She almost fell over when a set of strong hands caught her by the armpits and dragged her back to her feet.

When she looked at her savior she saw that it was Orin. the last time she had seen him was at Christmas last year. "Careful kid," he said as he left her and headed for Isabao. Yang was more thoughtful about her foot placement when she left for her room. She was still tired and she just wanted to sleep, she needed to get away from what was going on right now.

Yang made her way to her dorm without any major trouble. Her bed was calling to her so she climbed in and got comfy.

…

Yang slept poorly but she was able to sleep. When she woke up she remembered that James was most likely worried since when he got back she would have been gone. She almost left the room without changing when she realized that she was wearing the same clothes for almost three days.

With a new set of clothes, Yang made her way to the dojo only to see a sign on the door that said. _No classes today, go train with coach Maia or Askren_.

Yang knew that James didn't want anyone to but she didn't care. He had once walked into her dorm without knocking so she could do the same. Once she was inside she knew that something was wrong. Even when he wasn't teaching James was still training. Instead, the dojo was empty.

Yang walked slowly to the door that lead to James' bedroom. She didn't want to wake him up if he was asleep but she also needed to let him know that she was okay. The door opened silently and she saw James sitting at his desk typing away.

He seemed to sense that he was being watched so he stood up and turned around while saying. "I'm pretty sure the ability to read is a prerequisite to enroll in Beacon."

When Yang saw him she took a step back in shock. He wasn't wearing a shirt but that wasn't what shocked her. His lower abdomen was wrapped in bandages. So was his left hand. "What happened to you?" she asked walking over to assess his injuries.

James chuckled lightly and answered. " I got stabbed,"

The look Yang shot him told him she wasn't satisfied with that answer.

"Fine" he continued. " I was heading back after I got your PJs and some crazy cat lady attacked me. She tried to stab me in my liver but thankfully she missed. Then she tried to bite me so I punched her in the ear. Broke my hand but when she was trying to get her feet back under her I kneed her in the face and dislocated her shoulder before throwing her out of a window."

Yang was trying to figure out who had stabbed James when Blake and Weiss found her. She had left before any of them had woken up and the two of them wanted to try and reconcile after the way they had lashed out at Yang the day before.

When James and Blake made eye contact they both dropped into a fighting stance. James sweep Yang behind him with his left arm as his right side came forward into a southpaw stance. "You want round two cat?" he growled.

Weiss and Yang quickly got between the two of them with Weiss asking Blake what was wrong while Yang actually looked at Blake's injuries. She had a bandage on her left ear, her right arm was in a sling and she had a black eye.

Before Blake could answer Weiss Yang shouted. "YOU STABBED HIM!" as she pointed at James.

Blake who looked just as confused as James said. " well, yeah." she needed a moment to collect her thoughts before saying. "Yang, we were scared. You went missing for several hours and we couldn't find you. Ruby and I were out searching for you. She was looking in the armory and I was walking the halls. I saw some dude who was carrying your pajamas and I kinda panicked."

"YOU STABBED HIM!" Yang repeated. Yang spun around when she heard James start to laugh. "What's so funny!" she snapped.

"This whole thing," he said between bouts of laughter. "Was all just a big fucking misunderstanding,"

Yang started to slap at his head but he managed to shield himself with his good hand. "What is wrong without you got stabbed this isn't a good thing. Stop laughing."

The more she hit him the more he laughed to the point that Yang stormed out leaving only James, Weiss and Blake in the room.

Finally getting a handle on himself James looked at Blake saying. " we good?"

See the offering for peace Blake answered. "Yeah, we're good,"

They were all standing around not really sure what to do when Weiss and Blake got a group chat from Ruby telling them to meet her at the docks. When they arrived she was waiting for them with her signature smile on her face. Isabao was nowhere to be seen but that was no surprise after she had spent some time with team RWBY she went off to go find Jorge.

"What's up Ruby?" Weiss asked.

"We are going out for a team dinner, I texted Yang and she is on her way," she answered.

"Where are we going?" Blake asked. She wouldn't say as much but she was worried that they may accidentally go somewhere that wouldn't serve a Faunus. It was against the law to refuse serves on such grounds but Blake knew that such laws weren't worth their weight in dirt.

She didn't want to cause any problems and she knew that the odds of them going to one such place where very low so she wasn't too worried, just cautious.

Ruby smiled a little more than usual. " a recently opened restaurant that caters to Hunter's and Beacon students." she said.

"Sounds like fun," Blake said trying to raise the mood a little.

While she was speaking Yang stepped up behind her. "What does stabbing more people?" it was clear by her tone that she was still mad about the fact that Blake had stabbed James

"What?" Ruby asked. She had not heard about what happened so she was a little confused by what her sister meant.

"Oh, they didn't tell you?" Yang said looking at Weiss and Blake. "Blake stabbed James!"

Ruby had meet James, he had actually choked her out when she lashed out at him. In her defense, she thought that he was trying to take Jaune's place so she was a little aggressive.

She had since come to see that the Judo sparring partner had no intention of falling in love with her sister so she was able to forgive him. That lead her to turn to Blake and say. "You stabbed him?"

Balke was rubbing the back of her head nervously when Ruby shook her head and asked Yang. " is he okay?"

Yang half grumbled before answering. " he'll live but he needs to stop being so stupid."

With that settled Ruby lead her team to the new restaurant. Just outside the docks.

…

The man at the door of the restaurant was clearly getting frustrated. "Ma'am, I can't let you in with your weapons," he said. He was trying to get Ruby to hand over crescent rose. "It's standard policy," he continued.

"I don't care you aren't taking my baby!" the pint-sized reaper proclaimed.

"Ma'am," he said rubbing the bridge of his nose. "If you don't check your weapons then you don't get to enter the restaurant,"

Yang was about to try and talk Ruby it giving the man her weapon when Ruby decided to still have some fun with this guy. If he was checking all weapons then he needed to store them somewhere.

With an arrogant smile, she handed him her scythe in its scythe form. She figured that would give him trouble trying to get it through any doors and then storing it in the weapons rack.

She almost felt her jaw drop when he smoothly collapsed the scythe down into its rifle form and locked it into a high-security case. It did Ruby a little good to see that her weapon was being handled.

Yang handed over her bracelets and Blake reluctantly surrendered her several knives. Then they were escorted to their table by someone who must have been the doorman's twin brother.

When they had been settled a sharply dressed man with blue hair came over with a pen and paper. He starts to talk but his words stopped working when he made eye contact with Weiss. " Hello, my name is Neptune Vasilias and I will be your waite…"


	3. Chapter 3

Rex was hard at work running the kitchen. He had an order of twenty double meat and cheeseburgers to make. They were the signature dish of the restaurant. And a large dinner party had all asked for one.

That being said he was wondering about one of his servers. He had sent Neptune out to table number 4 to get the orders. That was almost two minutes ago. It was a tight window but Neptune had always managed to keep up with it until now.

"Wukong," he half said half barked. " go find your girlfriend," it sounded harsh but Rex knew about Sun and Neptune's background as Beacon Rangers so they took to his military style of leadership like a fish to water.

"Yes sir," Sun answered before walking away from the pot of chili he was working on to go find his friend. He returned a few moments later with said friend by the ear. "I have found him, Sir,"

"OUTSTANDING!" Rex bellowed "now give him your apron,"

Without a moment of hesitation Sun took off his apron and after smoothly folding it he offered it to Neptune who took it in turn.

"Vasilias," Rex continued. "Put on the apron and take over Wukong's station,"

Neptune did as he was instructed leaving only Sun still standing at ease in front of Rex waiting for his new orders. "Wukong, take over Vasilias' table's,"

Sun went off to begin gathering orders from the tables leaving Rex to turn back to his burgers. They were a recipe that he had perfected over many years of trying to make the MREs that his unit got issued more edible.

When he, Fives, Echo, Cody, and Kix found themselves in a strange land they first wanted to get home until they were confronted by someone they didn't think they would ever see again. He was one of the men who had trained them. He was also a general in the GRA. his name was General Telmarvak and he told that their part in the Clone War was over and that it was time for them to start a life of their own. At first, they were hesitant but they took to it soon enough.

They ended up using the money that the General gave to start up their restaurant. They wanted to cater to a more combat-oriented crowd so they decided to market themselves to the local hunter population. Fives was the doorman and he learned about the weapons of the hunters in order properly take care of them when the owners were eating.

Echo was the floater. He was able to do most jobs but he primarily just made sure that everyone had the supplies they needed to do their job.

Kix managed to find a good job while also fulfilling his secret lifetime goal of becoming a bartender while Cody served as the host and handled all of the checks.

Rex had taken well to being to cook. Which brought to his mind that he had more empty griddle space than he should. Grabbing the radio that he kept next to his workstation Rex keyed the mic asking. " Echo can you find Wukong?"

"Can do Captain," came the response.

There was a few moments of silence before Echo came back over the radio. "The cams show him sitting at table number 4,"

"Vasilias come take over my station," Rex commanded. The blue-haired boy soon stood at his left and upon being handed the spatula he set about working on the burgers.

Rex left the kitchen and headed out onto the dining room floor. He made his way up behind Neptune who was sitting at a table full of girls all of whom were laughing as he told them one of his watered-down stories.

When the girls all noticed him they one by one stopped laughing but Sun didn't notice and kept going for a sentence. "So there we were trying to get across the border with a case of whiskey and this CBP agent is just…"

He seemed to freeze for a moment before he asked the Girls " the captain is right behind me isn't he?"

It was the blonde girl who answered him. "If the captain is the mildly annoyed man in an apron that looks a lot like the doorman, host, and bartender then yes,"

Sun stood up slowly and turned around to see Rex standing behind him with his arms crossed.

"Sun," Rex said trying to contain himself. "Why are you here,"

Sun was about to answer when Rex yelled over him. "GET BACK IN THE KITCHEN!"

Turning to the girls he asked. "Can I get your orders?"

…

As team RWBY left the restaurant there was a happy silence. They weren't saying it but Blake and Weiss both had Sun and Neptune's scroll numbers. As they were getting back Yang saw James make his way into a Bullhead. He was still in a set of bandages but he had a trench coat on in spite of it.

He was going on some kind of mission. And Yang didn't like it. She gave Ruby a look and a nod before she headed over to him. "Where are you going?" she asked.

"Retawtliev," he answered. His voice was emotionless and it didn't sit well with Yang.

She sat down in one of the open seats and buckled herself in. James didn't speak but he looked like he was glad for the company. Yang checked her map and Retawvliet was about three hours away so she got comfy and tried to go to sleep she had a long flight ahead of her.


	4. Chapter 4

Sun and Neptune had just made it back to their new apartment when they received an SOS from Beacon. They had retired from the Rangers but they had also placed themselves on stand by in case of an emergency.

And this was exactly the sort of thing that they meant. A recovery team that was sent to the destroyed town of Retawtielv. And now that team was pinned down by a sniper team. They grabbed they go bags and sprinted out of the building.

There was a Ranger safe house nearby that had its own private bullhead landing pad. While they were still on the way there Neptune pressed a button on his scroll and started the process for opening the roof to allow them to take off.

By the time that they had reached the Bullhead the roof doors were open wide enough for them to fly through. Sun to the stick first getting them into the air as Neptune put on his armor and uniform.

Once he was done he took the copilot seat and Sun did likewise. With them both in their battle gear, the headed for the town. There was no small talk between them. They had switched their minds into Ranger mode, now they were cold, efficient, machines of war.

Thanks to the high power of their experimental engines the normally three-hour flight took them only one. The area around the burned-out town was forested but Neptune activated the thermal view on his mask. He saw a small trail that told him what he needed to know.

When the sniper team pinning down the recovery team heard their Bullhead coming they packed up and left. A wise choice since if they had remained then the four 20 mm autocannons mounted to the nose of their Bullhead would have made quick work of them.

After taking two passes over the area to make sure it was clear they landed next to the Bullhead that brought the recovery team here. There was a man hanging from a chain wrapped around his hands.

When they got closer they could tell from the hole in his chest as well as the blood that he had been shot. The cargo door was locked but Sun was able to pick the lock easily enough. As the door lowered they were driven out of the opening by a barrage of rifle fire coming from inside.

"Rangers 32 and 78 here to aide recovery team Frostfall," Sun said.

"Green dog tower," the voice inside said.

It was the challenge phrase that had been sent to the recovery team and Sun. checking his scroll Sun found the counter phrase. "Epsilon bravo clementine,"

"Alright come on in," the voice said.

Sun and Neptune slowly rounded the corner to see a man crouched behind one of the rows of benches with a rifle. There was an unconscious blonde woman hidden behind the other bench. It took Sun a second but he recognized them both. They were the same two that had almost gotten into a fight with Neptune.

"Ranger 78 I'll take the stick and bring this Bullhead back to Beacon. follow in our bird," Sun said.

Without a word, Neptune left for their Bullhead. As he was walking past the body Sun said. "And put him in the storage unit," still without a word Neptune raised his rifle and shot the chain holding him up cathing the falling body over his shoulder and carrying it to the Ranger Bullhead.

Sun turned back to the man. " do you or miss Xiao Long require medical attention?" he asked.

"Just get us back to Beacon. She took a nasty fall but I think her aura will fix the damage," the man said. His worry was obvious she had been unconscious for an unknown amount of time. Closing the door Sun made his way to the cockpit only to find that the pilot was dead. He had been shot through the windshield. Most likely at the start of the attack.

The flight was relatively uneventful except when Yang woke up and needed to be calmed down by James. She had a headache but she was alive so Sun saw that as a win. When they arrived at Beacon the man asked Sun. "so where is the guy that was hanging from the chain?"

" We have your teammate's body in the other Bullhead," Sun answered.

"Teammate?" the man asked.

He sounded confused so Sun explained. "Yeah, I assume that he was part of your team and he didn't get to cover so after they killed him the sniper team hung him there as a demoralizing move,"

The man laughed before saying. " Hell no, I'm the one who hung him there. I was interrogating him when the ambush started."

Sun's eyebrows rose under his helmet. Through the damaged windshield Sun could see the rest of team RWBY coming. He still wasn't sure if he wanted Blake to know about his past a Ranger so he quickly got up and headed for the other bird.

When he arrived and found Neptune also sitting inside he knew that his partner had the same thought as him. They weren't ashamed of the things they had done but they wanted to keep that side of them separate from their social lives.

…

Ruby, Weiss, and Blake all rushed into the Bullhead as James and Yang were leaving. Judging by the bruise behind her left ear and the way that she was holding her head they decided that she needed their attention right now.

"She needs to be checked in the Infirmary," James said heading for the main tower of Beacon.

"And what about you?" Ruby asked.

"I have a debriefing to give," he said. The tone of his answer was concerning. It sounded like cold rage. Cold rage was dangerous, it was calculated but simultaneously unpredictable. Being the little sister of Yang Xiao Long Ruby knew rage and this was definitely Cold rage.

…

James sat in one of the chairs in Jorge's office. "So, what happened out there?" the older man asked.

James reached into the large pocket of his trench coat and pulled out a metal box. "I secured the burn box as ordered," he said.

"You also secured Victoria and your father's rifle," Jorge added motioning to the two long guns leaned against the side of Jorge's desk.

"I did sir, and there is more. I did a little on-site inspection and I don't believe the official story." Jorge leaned back in his chair as he waited for James to explain. "I found all of the long guns in the safe telling me that there was no battle, I found several pistol shell casings next to one of the destroyed cars. I looked around and I found a body that was not a Faunus.

As James spoke his face showed that he was trying to make sense of what he found. "I don't know who my father was shooting at but it wasn't the white fang. While I was there I came across the mayor of Retawtielv, Damn Louse"

Now his face shifted from contemplative to fury. " he hid in his basement while the town was burning. After it was all over he came out and began to loot the ruins. I asked him some questions in a rather vigorous manner while he was hanging by his hands from the back of the Bullhead."

Jorge raised an eyebrow at that sentence. "I thought he may have known what was coming since managed to survive when nobody else did," James explained. "He was about to crack when we got ambushed. A sniper team opened fire. I can't tell if they were aiming for me or him but they got him."

Jorge listened while he looked over the preliminary damage report on the Bullhead from the depot. "I managed to get myself and Yang onto the Bullhead but by the time she had gotten to the pilot he was already dead,"

Jorge noted that there were several bullet holes in the windshield of the Bullhead. He also noted that James was talking like a leader which was good. Jorge had set plans in place for the years to come. Jaune would not be apart of them anymore so if he could mold James to fill the slot them he would.

"Yang took a round to the back of the ear and the fall managed to knock her out. I got on the radio and called for back up. From there your ranger team showed up and either killed or ran off the snipers." James finished.

Jorge nodded solemnly. He knew what James was thinking. Something else was involved in destroying James' family and it wasn't the White Fang. this was going to require some very covert ops type work. Thankfully Jorge knew just the two men for the job.


	5. Chapter 5

Sun was still in his uniform when he got the message from Jorge. "Ear to the ground I am going to need you two soon," Sun fought the groan that was growing within him. He and Neptune had just gotten back from their last mission.

"Nep, keep your gear handy we may get called up again soon," he said. There was a tired sigh from the blue-haired boy as he stopped taking off his armor.

"How soon?" he asked.

Sun offered him a shrug, the message was vague but he had a good idea what it was about. Jorge wanted someone to do some digging on the new players in the criminal scene. Sun had a contact that would know. Thinking it through he turned to his partner and said. "You get out of your armor and go home if we get a call that needs you I'll let you know."

Neptune nodded in agreement before he finished taking off his armor and uniform. Once they were stored back in their storage bags he left for the apartment. Once he left Sun also got changed and headed out. He was going to go talk to his contact even if he was asked to do any digging.

The bar that the contact frequented was just down the street. That was one of the perks to living where he did. He wasn't hard to find. A 200-pound bald black male, sitting down next to him asking. "Selwyn, what's the word on the new kids playing the big crime game?"

Selwyn didn't answer. He just stared at Sun with a mildly annoyed look. "Motherfucker you know who this works," Selwyn said his laughter finally getting the better of him. It was true that Sun and Selwyn weren't really friends they still acted in a friendly manner. This often involved a few good ribbings every now and then.

Sun reached into his wallet and after he tossed over about forty bucks Selwyn nodded. " There is a new group coming up. They don't have a solid name but I hear that they have former white fang members. Let me tell you this about that, these folks sound small time but they may try and do a few big things. I hear they're working out of a warehouse in Vacuo."

"Do you have the address?" Sun asked.

Selwyn smiled arrogantly sliding a small piece of paper across the table. When Sun looked at it he saw the words. 528 Wilson Drive, Calhoun, Vacuo.

Sun smiled back nodding as he left the bar. He hadn't made it twelve steps back to the safehouse when his scroll buzzed. It was a message from Jorge. " I want you to find out what you can about who's getting into the organized crime world."

Sun smirked at the fact that he had already done this assignment. Taking a minute to compose his report Sun sent back.

_Mission report,_

_Target, up and coming crime group that coincides with the attack on Retawtleiv. _

_Name, Unknown_

_Location 528 Wilson Drive, Calhoun, Vacuo_

Hitting send Sun realized that he forgot to include Selwyn payment under Mission expenses. That meant that he wasn't getting reimbursed for his troubles. Instead, he was going to go back to his apartment and try to get some sleep. Tomorrow was a big day for him and Neptune. They would normally work on Saturdays but they had asked for this Saturday off.

Cody wanted to tell them so screw off and get to work but Rex managed to convince that it was a good idea. It was thanks to him that he and Neptune would be able to go on their "double date" that they had been planning with Blake and Weiss.

They had been talking over their scrolls for a few hours and planned to meet up together tomorrow. When he got home Sun set out his clothes for the next day before he climbed into bed and did his best to get some sleep.

…

Jorge stood in the Bullhead that had been converted into a mobile command center. It was currently placed on the roof of his office and was being used to watch the largest Ranger operation to date.

The mission callsign counterpunch was going to wipe out the group that had destroyed Retawtielv. Every ranger with the exception of Sun and Neptune was on the ground. That meant that there were only eleven people but they were the best that could be found.

"Sir, permitter established waiting for the order to attack," Mcnelly said

Jorge took a moment to think about what was about to happen. It was only yesterday that Sun had told him about the location of the warehouse. Thankfully all of the Rangers were stationed in Vacuo at the time.

"Greenlight, I want as many prisoners and as much intel as possible but don't hold back," Jorge said back.

The helmet cam showed Mcnelly making his way to the target door. Once all the rangers were in position Jorge saw Mcnelly plant a breaching charge on the door.

When he fired the detonator the camera went dead. Looking around all of the went dead. Jorge moved over to the camera that was on one of the drones that was patrolling the area.

It was desolation. The entire building was gone. Half of the block was gone. It just one giant crater. Jorge knew what this was, this was a trap.

They had destroyed Retawtliev in order to earn the attention of the Ranger's then they set up a Base of Operations in order to draw in as many as they could. They may not have known it but they had just single-handedly wiped out every active Ranger at once.

Jorge knew that he needed a new unit to bring these people to justice. But he needed to put that unit together and train them. That would take time, time that these assholes had just bought for about four hundred pounds of high explosive.

Jorge wanted to call Sun but he knew that Sun was on a date with Blake, the last thing he needed was to be told that he was one of the last two Rangers in the world. Instead, he sent a message to Isabao.

"I Love you," he texted her.

He knew that it would seem out of place to the outside observer but in his experience, one of the best ways to fight back evil was with small acts of love.

Returning to the matter at hand Jorge sent a message to Coby Hansen. It was time for him to wrap up his manhunt for the killer of his brother. "Hansen either kill him or stop hunting him I need you back here ASAP."

He didn't get a response to either message and he didn't expect to. It was late so Isabao was asleep and Hansen was probably a little busy. Putting his feelings over the loss of his men aside Jorge sat down in the Bullhead and began to draw up designs.

He had a plan for this but it wasn't going to be an instant solution.

…

Sun was in the middle of telling one of his best jokes when the back of his left hand started to burn. That meant that he was getting a message on his Ranger scroll. He normally kept that scroll turned off but all of the rangers had a transponder in their left hand the would give off a noticeable amount of heat if they got a message.

While still talking he pulled out the scroll and powered it on. He had hoped that his nonchalant actions would keep Blake from getting too curious, he was wrong. She looked like she wanted to know why he had a second scroll that he kept turned off and she was about to ask when the device activated and Sun saw that he had eleven unread messages all sent at the same time.

He felt his heart drop. There was only one reason that he would get that many messages simultaneously. He opened the message and was confronted by his worst nightmare. The messages were death notifications for the remaining Rangers. Sun knew instantly what must have happened.

If all of them were in the same place then they were on a mission and the only mission that would have warranted all of them was the raid that he had supplied the intel for. An anger lit in his chest. Someone had killed his brothers and they used him to do it.

Without a word he stood up and walked out of the restaurant, they were in. Blake called after him but it was no good he didn't hear her. She tried to follow but Neptune stopped her. He had a look that sent a wave of worry through her.

She had never seen Neptune look like this. His face was sad but his eyes shone with the same anger that Sun's had just a moment before. "He needs to work some stuff out and he wouldn't want you there for that."

Walking past him she did her best to find Sun. she didn't give a damn about what Sun wanted, something was wrong and she wanted to know what it was.

She saw him walking down the street with his hands in his pockets. He looked like he was lost and that wasn't good. This wasn't the best part of town and if Sun wasn't careful he could get hurt.

Blake's worry grew when she saw him turn down a darker street that was more likely to have some on waiting to attack hiding in it. That was when she saw them. Three men had surrounded Sun and one was reaching for the boy's shoulder.

Blake was running now. She needed to get to Sun before he got hurt or worse. Her running stopped when Sun swiftly reached up and bent the man's index and middle fingers backward with a disturbing series of cracks.

When the man opened his mouth to scream Sun lashed his right hand out and in a single powerful strike crushed the man's trachea. As the man fell his knees dying the other two attacked. One pulled out a knife and Sun knocked it from his hand with a well time strike the back of the weapon hand that bent the wrist at an unpleasant looking angle.

While doing this Sun used his right hand to block a punch from the third man. Then Sun spun counter-clockwise using his tail to grab the falling knife and slice the second man's throat as he hit the third man with a spinning back fist.

The second man grabbed at his bleeding throat on his way to the ground when Sun smashed his right forearm on the left side of the third man's face. Quickly snaking his left arm under the man's right Sun used his tail to stab the man three times. Once in the liver and once in each Kidney.

As the man tried to lunge back Sun the man's right shoulder in a counter-clockwise direction as his forearm pushed the man's head in a clockwise way, the fast twist snapped the man's neck making him drop like he had been shot.

Blake was worried that she may have trade one murderous monster in Adam for another in Sun. Her worries paused when she saw Sun sink to his knees and start to cry. The knife fell from his tail as his shoulders shook.

Blake approached him slowly, she didn't want to trigger any kind of defense response from his evidently present training. When she was just a few feet from him she said. "Sun, let's get you home." Sun didn't protest too much and with a little help from Blake, he stood up and headed for his apartment.

Once they were inside Blake got him to sit on the couch, after getting settled she asked him. "Sun, What's wrong?"

Until now Sun had been crying in silence blankly staring at the ground. But now he broke even further. "They're all dead, every last one of them,"

His words didn't tell Blake much so she pressed the question. "Who's dead?" she knew that this was going to have to get worse before it got better and the way that Sun's face fought for a moment and then managed to finally settle down told her that she was going to be getting her answer.

" my old friends, they were on their way to a big vacation and their boat sank, now their all dead."

Blake had a good idea of what was wrong. Sun blamed himself for the deaths, he thought that if he had stayed with them then they might be alive. She sat down on the coffee table across from him. She set her hand on his shoulder saying. " this isn't your fault Sun,"

She knew almost as soon as she said it that it was the wrong thing to say. Sun started to cry again and between breaths managed to say. " it is my fault Blake, I can't tell you why but it is."

What he had said and the way that he started to shake made Blake want to ask why but instead she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. She knew that right now he didn't need words he just needed love.

She froze for a moment when she realized that she had just used the word love even if only in her head. Did she love Sun? She had only met him a few days ago but then again Jaune once got married in about a week so was that really good measure of whether or not you could love someone.

Then she thought of Adam, she had loved him and that was a mistake. Was this a mistake. Was she ready for what she may be getting herself into? What if she wasn't. And was she prepared to love again after Adam?

She choose to put these questions to rest until she had gotten Sun into a more stable mindset and position. She was starting to fall asleep on her shoulder so she guided him to where she hoped his bedroom was. She was in luck as the room she choose was a bedroom.

Once they had gotten close to the bed Sun more or less fell into it. Blake wasn't ready for it and was dragged down with him. She would have to ask him when he got his aura unlocked when he woke up since he had already curled up into a ball with his face held tightly to her chest.

Deciding that she was going to be better off wait until the next day anf trying to gets some answers out of a calmer Sun she settled down and began to gently run one of her hands through his hair.

…

Weiss looked at Neptune with a face that told him everything she was about to say. " he held up his pointer finger in such a way as to say "One moment," and after pulling out enough money to pay for dinner for the four of them he offered Weiss his arm and she took it.

It was clear that he didn't want to cause a scene. And she appreciated it. Once they had made it back to Neptune's apartment he lead her to the living room and said. " I want to start with I'm sorry, I didn't want to keep this a secret but I wasn't sure I could trust you with it." as he spoke he pulled his shirt up over his head to show a tattoo on his chest. It was the Rangers' symbol, the lawman's star. "I'm one of the Rangers of Beacon," he said. 'I shouldn't have told you that since I Just brought about four NDAs but I don't care. Something about you is trustworthy so I will tell you"

As he spoke he handed her his second scroll unlocked and open. It was a series of messages saying the Ranger number ## had died. " I am now one of the last two Rangers in the world," he added.

Weiss was about to ask who the other one was when she managed to answer her own question. Sun had gotten the same message and he had left to go deal with his anger.

"Are you going to be okay?" Wiess asked worried that Neptune might do whatever Sun had done.

Neptune nodded. " I already came to terms with losing them. I don't like it and when I find out who is to blame I'll move heaven and earth to destroy them. But I'm not going to lose my mind if that's what you're asking me."

Looking past her at the clock he said. Let's go find Blake and Sun. you two need to get back to Beacon and I need to try and get a handle on him,"

Neptune opened the door to his room and froze in the doorway with an amused smile on his face. When Wiess stepped over to look into the room she saw that Blake and Sun were asleep in the bed.

She also decided that Blake looked comfy and that she wanted to try this cuddling thing. Grabbing Neptune's hand she lead him to the next bedroom only to find that it was, in fact, a bathroom. With a mildly annoyed huff, she kept moving dragging Neptune alone with her.

After a short search, she found the other bedroom. This one most likely Sun's but Weiss didn't care. She made her way over to the hammock and with a bit of difficulty managed to finagle both Neptune and herself into it. She was right. Cuddling was comfortable and even if he didn't want to admit it Neptune needed this right now.


	6. Chapter 6

James was cleaning his father's rifle in his new room. He had moved into Jaune's old room. He had needed to fix a bookshelf but other than that the room was in good condition. While he was doing that his phone rang. Which was odd since he really shouldn't have service On Remnant, and also since he hadn't paid the bill for his phone in the past six months.

When he saw the caller ID he was pleasantly surprised. It was his old friend, Zachary Harriman. They had met in High School and then met back up in college. It was Zachary who got him to start his writing. It was also Zachary that help him refine his unusual style of Judo.

Answering the phone he said, "Hey Zach, what's up bro?"

"Not a whole lot but Jorge told me about your family, Man I am so sorry, that's fucked up." Zach answered " I was just calling to make sure that you were okay.'

"I'm good man how are things going to for you and Annie?" James asked. He hadn't seen Zach or his wife in a while but the last time he checked she was expecting.

"She's doing well just hit a new level of morning sickness though," he responded. His exhaustion evident in his voice.

"I understand man, I really do," James was lying, of course, he had no idea what Jame was going through but that didn't matter.

Just as he finished speaking there was a bussing sound. "Annie is calling me I'll talk to you later bro," Zach said before dropping the call.

Having finished cleaning his new rifle James looked at the clock. It was three am and he hadn't slept yet. Not wanting to spend the next few hours still awake and just rolling around in bed James grabbed Victoria and headed for the rifle range.

When he arrived he hit the switch to light up the fifty-yard target and sat down with his rifle and about half a loaf of bread. Smoothly loading five rounds he aimed down the open sights that had taught him how to shoot large rifles. Squeezing the trigger slowly he felt the rifle buck as the sound of the blast rang through the air.

Using the custom lefthanded bolt James ejected the spent round and rechambered a new one. He was getting ready to fire again when he got a text message. This one was on his scroll and it came from Yang "I can't find Blake and Weiss, they went for dinner with Sun and Neptune but that was hours ago,"

He could tell that she was worried so he made sure that he thought his response through. "Have you tried to call them?"

He was about to fire when his scroll buzzed again. With a tired sigh, he put down Victoria and checked what it was. "I just did but now answer," Yang replied.

That made sense to James. It was three in the morning after all. They were probably asleep wherever they were. He wanted to calm her down but there didn't seem to be a way for that to happen without going after Blake and Weiss.

"I'll go after them, keep you posted," he texted.

Unloading the last few rounds from Victoria James texted Jorge. "Yang wants me to find Blake and Weiss, where should I start?"

He set about cleaning Victoria while he waited for Jorge's response. James had been given Victoria as a Christmas present when he was about fifteen years old. She was his favorite rifle and while he knew that his father's combat rifle was better that didn't matter.

"They are with Sun and Neptune, they will be okay," Jorge texted him.

James nodded at the message. He had figured that the newfound boyfriends were somehow to blame for Blake and Weiss being MIA for so long. He made his way to Yang's dorm with Victoria slung behind him. After knocking on her door he waited a few moments for Yang to open the door.

When the door opened it wasn't Yang but Ruby who was standing behind it. "Oh, Hi James are you here for Yang?"

James nodded slightly. " I am she asked me to find Blake and Weiss. Tell her that they are with Sun and Neptune." Ruby also nodded like she already knew that and closed the door.

James was getting the feeling that there was something more than he could see at work. Something inside of him was working to get out. He had a theory, he was used to loss, He had let go of many friends in his life. But he had always gone home to his family. For the first time in his life, James was truly alone. And he didn't like it.

Dark times were coming. For him and everyone else but he needed to try and keep up his spirits. He was always to the one that got his family through tragedy. He made jokes and got them to laugh again.

But now there was no one to hear his jokes, nobody to make laugh. His thoughts were distracted when his scroll buzzed. It was a message to all Beacon staff and Students to make their way to the new building near the eastern edge to the Beacon estate.

It was a new building, the Flynn and Fletcher construction company was famous for how fast they can assemble a building. The doors were clear glass and once inside the sunset shone in through the eastward windows.

James saw Yang and a few other students there. Yang had tears in her eyes and when James was inside he saw why. The wall facing the east was mostly an obsidian black but there were bronze plaques on them.

The first two had been engraved. The first one read

_Pyrrha Nikos_

_Loving wife, mother, and huntress_

_Born August 38 3456_

_Died May 12 3475_

There was a carving of Pyrrha's emblem under the words and there was a set of punches with a hammer on a table that was nearby. The table had a card that said. Teammates of the honored may use the punches to leave their mark.

The punches where made to indent the symbol of Pyrrha's teammate one for each of team RWBY as well as Luke, Ren, and Nora. Yang's was already made but she was the only one.

The second plaque was not on the wall which meant that it was being engraved. Soon Coby Hansen was approaching the wall with a few of the larger students. They were pushing a cart that had the second plaque on it. The mounting process was short and once they had finished the plaque could be read.

_Jaune Micheal Arc_

_Warrior, Sherrif, and the first Ranger of Beacon_

_Born June 26 3455_

_Died September 25 3475_

This one had the mark of the Beacon Rangers already stamped on it. As well as space for his old teammates to mark it. James needed to take a step back he was in pain again his family would be forgotten if not for him. He didn't want to ruin the moment for everyone else to he just left at that. On his way out he saw Jorge staring out over the cliffs of the floating school.

He was looking into the sunset and if James didn't know any better he would have said he looked like he was crying.

There was a strange beauty to it. Like they were tears of pride. Pride in his students, and also in something else. James wanted to ask him what it was but his better judgment told him not to. They had important times ahead of them. James wasn't sure what it was but something told him that the next six to seven months would be the factor that decided Remnant's fate.


End file.
